California will receive nearly $1 billion in previously frozen federal education funds after the Trump administration reversed course amid growing outrage and concern about the impacts to students across the nation.
The California Department of Education said Thursday evening it had received official grant award notifications for several federally funded programs, including programs supporting migrant students, English language learners and adult education.
“California schools have been waiting for these resources to serve students, and now nearly $1 billion of illegally impounded federal education funds will finally reach our classrooms,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “The Trump administration’s delay created unacceptable uncertainty for our schools and harmed many of our most vulnerable students. However, we are moving swiftly to ensure these funds support students, educators, and school communities without further interruption.”
The funds had been frozen since June 30, when the Trump administration alerted California and 24 other states that the administration was withholding $6.8 billion in congressionally approved school funds for several programs flagged for allegedly promoting a “left wing” agenda. The money was due to arrive to schools July 1 but the Trump administration said the funds would not be distributed until officials had completed a review of programs’ consistency with President Donald Trump’s “priorities.”
California said approximately $939 million in education funding was being withheld from the state — funds that for decades have been used to support educational programs for migrant children and English learners, improve school conditions, expand the use of technology in classrooms and offer adult education and workforce development.
The Alameda County Office of Education said it would have lost about $559,000 from the federal funding freeze, but for all of the school districts in the county, that loss would have been $24.1 million for the 2025-26 school year.
As the funding freeze dragged on for weeks, panic among educators and families grew. And nearly a dozen Republican senators from the president’s own party implored the Trump administration to release the funds in a letter to the Office of Management and Budget, arguing the freeze would harm students, families and local economies. The Trump administration released some grant funding for California after-school and summer programs in late July.
Bay Area schools’ responses to the freeze varied. Palo Alto Unified School District, which relies primarily on local property taxes and less on federal funding, said the district had not immediately anticipated any layoffs or real impact from the freeze.
Berkeley Unified School District said federal funding makes up only about 2% of the district’s total budget and the district was expected to receive approximately $400,000 from the funding sources being withheld for the 2025-26 school year — funding that includes grant dollars that support programs for instruction and English language learners.
Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District said federal revenue equates to 6% of the district’s annual budget and it had been waiting to see how much of that would be impacted.
After the freeze was announced, many Bay Area school districts said they were waiting for additional guidance from the California Department of Education and anticipating immediate legal challenges to the freeze. Those did materialize.
California — along with 24 other states — quickly sued the Trump administration over the freeze, arguing that the withholding of already allocated dollars was illegal and would result in schools being “thrown into chaos” and educational programs being forced to close. It was not immediately clear if the lawsuit prompted the administration to release the funds.
In a statement Thursday, Attorney General Rob Bonta celebrated the Trump administration’s reversal of its “blatantly illegal, misguided effort to freeze critical education funds” weeks before the start of the school year.
“Let’s be clear: this funding should never have been frozen in the first place,” Bonta said. “We’re glad to see the administration back down from its illegal effort to withhold these funds, but we can’t lose sight of the long-term damage caused by the president’s campaign of chaos and uncertainty. California will not stop fighting to hold the president and his administration accountable to the law and to protect our children’s educational future.”
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